The Hotel Act treats any place that takes paying guests for short stays as a hotel, and a hotel needs a licence from the registrar before it operates. Letting only by the month or longer falls outside that definition. We prepare the application for villa projects, resorts and small hotels and lodge it with the registrar, together with the consents and permits behind it.

What this covers

The title deeds, leases and building permits for every building in the hotel, checked against what the registrar asks for
Consent letters in Thai and English from the landowner and from each villa owner, where the applicant does not own the buildings itself
Confirmation that each building is permitted for hotel use, or holds a licensed engineer’s inspection certificate where it sits outside a building-control area
The environmental file the project’s size calls for, coordinated with the licensed preparer when a report is required
The application and its supporting documents, lodged with the registrar, and every follow-up until the decision
For a foreign-owned operator, the structure the Foreign Business Act requires before the licence can issue

How the licence works

The registrar is the official for the area where the hotel stands. After the application goes in, the registrar has five working days to point out anything incorrect or missing and set a period to fix it [Hotel Act B.E. 2547, section 17]. Other licences the hotel needs can be applied for through the same registrar at the same time. Once the government agencies concerned have reported back, the registrar grants or refuses the licence within thirty days and gives reasons for a refusal [section 18].

Rights over the premises come first. The registrar must refuse the licence if the applicant neither owns the land and buildings nor has a right to use them, such as a lease or the owner’s consent to hotel use [Ministry of Interior Notification under section 15, B.E. 2552, clause 4(4)]. On a project where the villas belong to different people, that means a signed consent from each owner.

The environmental requirement depends on the room count and the floor area. On Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, a hotel of 11 to 49 rooms, including a building converted to hotel use, follows the construction and operating measures annexed to the 2568 environmental protection area notification. More than 50 metres from the shoreline, 50 to 79 rooms or a combined floor area of 2,500 to under 4,000 square metres calls for an initial environmental report. Across Thailand, a hotel of 80 rooms or 4,000 square metres or more needs a full environmental impact assessment [Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Notification B.E. 2566, item 30].

A licence covers only the hotel named in it and runs for five years from the date of issue [Hotel Act, section 19]. Renewal is applied for before it expires. The registrar’s permission is needed before the hotel changes its category or its name, or adds or removes rooms in a way that affects the structure [section 22].

Small places have a second route. Accommodation with no more than eight rooms and thirty guests can be notified to the registrar and inspected, and once the registrar acknowledges it, it is not a hotel under the Act. Our article on letting a villa on Airbnb explains where that line sits and where the Foreign Business Act comes in for foreign owners.

What you receive

A written check of the permits and plans, listing anything to put right before filing
Consent letters ready for signature, in Thai with an English version
The complete application pack as lodged, with copies for your records
A note after each contact with the registrar’s office, recording what was said and by whom

How an engagement runs

Site facts. We start with the room count, the floor areas, who owns each plot and what the permits say.
Fee. Fixed in writing once the site facts are known.
The file. We collect the signed consents and assemble the environmental file, then check the pack against the registrar’s list.
Lodging. Our team files with the registrar and handles the follow-up until the licence issues.

What this does not cover

Architectural and engineering work, and the building permit submissions to the local authority, sit with your architect. A licensed preparer writes any environmental report, and whoever runs the restaurant holds its food permits in their own name. A foreign-owned operator’s structure is quoted separately under Corporate and Commercial, or under US Treaty of Amity Companies for American owners.

Fees

We quote one fixed fee once we know the room count and the site, and it is paid in full before work begins. The licence fee and the yearly fee for each room go to the registrar separately.

Hotel Licensing